Friday, October 3, 2008

You're gonna love this

For the uninitiated, ikan bilis is what we call anchovies where I come from. It's normally eaten as a snack or fried with sambal as a side dish with nasi lemak (steamed rice with coconut).

If you've been deep frying ikan bilis, well I'm going to teach you a new oil-free way. I learnt this from a mum at a forum I frequent & I've not looked back since.

First of all, wash & rinse the ikan bilis. Lay them out on a microwavable plate - just enough to cover the plate without over crowding. Put on high for 1.5 minutes. Remove & stir them around a little bit. Put them back in for another 1.5 minutes & repeat until they are crispy. It usually takes me in total between 3- 4 minutes for each batch.

So much better. No oil, no messy splashes & healthier too.


When done, you just need to store them in an air tight container. I'm not sure how long it can keep cos I never have to worry about it, it doesn't last very long in our family.


I usually eat them just like this or with a squeeze of lime & cut chilli or of course, as sambal ikan billi (which I will post another time). How do you like to eat them ?

9 comments:

Sri said...

Oh wow. Thanks for the tip. I'll be doing it really soon!

I love my ikan bilis with sambal. And then eat it with nasi lemak. Sigh...

Dutchess said...

M & Sri: I've been using this method when a mum (I can't remember who) from M4M came up with this suggestion. Some of us tried it out and to our pleasant surprise, worked as good as deep frying itself. No more smelly kitchens and upset hubbies!

Edith said...

I love mine with 5 spice powder and a little sugar.

Anonymous said...

Will definitely try it the next time. Thanks for the tip. I love mine fried with onions (chopped up), chili powder and sugar.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this tip! I currently do papadoms in themicorwave too! Cannot wait for you to share your sambal recipe!

SIG said...

I usually use them as a base for soup, else will eat them the nasi lemak sambal way.

Beau Lotus 涟 said...

Now that's what I call sharing!

I'm going to dig out my packet of ikan bilis, had put off cooking them because I was too lazy to fry them.

petite fleur said...

Dutchess - I got it from there too

E - 5 spice & sugar - got to try that

Eunice - another suggestion with sugar - I like

SL - Do you make the papadoms from scratch ?

Sri, SIG & Lotus - trust me, you'll be converted too

Lilian said...

Ooh thanks for this tip. I just made some (5 minutes ago) and they were so crispy. I'm munching on some right now :)